


Hotch Rockets and Happy Endings

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-07
Updated: 2011-11-07
Packaged: 2017-10-25 19:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/273794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was too much white noise between her ears.  Emily needed to drown it out with something good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hotch Rockets and Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR EPILOGUE!!!!

“Hey there.”

Emily looked up from her thoughts and smiled at her husband. She was curled in a chair on their bedroom balcony, a cup of tea in one hand and a clove in the other. It was a chilly October night but Emily was comfortable in pajama pants, sports socks, and Hotch’s Fordham University sweatshirt. He sat down in the chair beside her.

“Is she asleep?” she asked.

“Mmm hmm, we read _Goodnight Moon_ and she's out like a light. I even managed to call Jack before he went down for the night. He's excited about coming over for the entire weekend.”

“I wanted to talk to him.”

“I know, but I just caught him. Actually lights were already out but he wasn’t asleep and Jessie knew he’d want to talk to me. She told me Haley was sick. Steve worried it could be pneumonia but the doctor said it was just a bad cold.

“She was in bed for days. Jessie was upset that she couldn’t go over and help take care of her but she didn’t want baby Michael to get sick too.” Hotch sighed. He shouldn’t have brought it up. It just made him feel sad and guilty. Emily could tell too because she was giving him the sympathetic look.

She put out her clove and reached over to take his hand. Haley didn’t die at the hands of George Foyet but her life since had been anything but charmed. She’d never be the woman she once was; it was one illness after the other. In fact Steve was talking about moving them to Phoenix…her doctors thought the arid air and constant sunshine would be better for her. Haley was resisting for one reason, Jack.

That would mean separating him from his father and his aunt. She wasn’t going to leave her son behind, health be damned. But soon she might not have a choice. Hotch wasn’t going to let her take Jack, even though he wanted her to go and be as healthy as she could.

None of the family could bear a custody battle. But Hotch was prepared to do what he had to in order to maintain a relationship with his son. It was never easy. Every victory was met with an equal defeat.

Emily did her best to stand by him and support him. She didn’t want Jack to be far away either. He was more than a stepson to her. No, she would never be his mother but they loved each other very much. Having him move 2000 miles away was as unacceptable to her as it was to her husband.

“Make me smile.” She said. This had been a hard case and Emily just didn’t want to think about it, or the sad things, anymore.

“Faster than a Hotch rocket?” he raised his eyebrow.

“I have no idea where she got that from.”

“You have no idea at all?”

“Nope.” Emily shook her head.

“You told me once that you didn’t talk about our sex life with your friends.” Hotch said.

“I told you that?”

“Mmm hmm.” He nodded.

“Honey, I was probably just lying to you to make you feel better.”

Hotch laughed. He reached for her hand, kissing it as he laughed some more.

“I thought I was supposed to making you smile, not the other way around.”

“When you're happy Aaron Hotchner, I do smile.”

“And you really talk with your friends about our sex life?” He asked.

“I do it as infrequently as possible. You know women do like to talk about more than sex. We also discuss coffee, philosophy, books, and Ryan Gosling.”

“You could’ve left that last part out. Somehow I think it has something to do with talking about sex.”

“No comment.” Emily finally smiled.

“Aha, there it is.” Hotch leaned over in his chair and kissed her lips. “I think we should go to bed. It’s not often that we’re home for a full eight hours of sleep.”

“If we get in that bed right now we won't be getting eight full hours of sleep either.”

“You said it I didn’t, Mrs. Hotchner.”

“So it was my idea?” she asked.

Hotch just shrugged, his dimples appearing when he smiled. He was still holding Emily’s hand and she gave his a gentle squeeze. She wasn’t alright and he wanted to talk to her about it but there had been enough talk on this case. It brought up some memories for all of them, none of which were particularly fond.

Hotch didn’t discuss his own flat lining experience after he was stabbed by Foyet, mostly because he didn’t remember it. He didn’t remember light or darkness or anything. All he remembered was reliving the moments with that maniac as he lie in a hospital bed. No one wanted to hear about that and Hotch didn’t want to tell it.

“I think we’ve always been good at working together. Come to bed with me and we’ll have a little refresher course.”

“I need a little while.” Emily replied. “It’s a gorgeous night, I'm just going to have another clove, finish the last of my now lukewarm tea, and then I’ll be in. Keep the bed warm for me?”

“Another clove? How many have you had tonight?” he asked.

“Funny, I thought I left my father in Chevy Chase.”

“Emily…”

“It’s only my second, Aaron. I just need to come down from this case.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” she shook her head. “I just want to come down enough to sleep. Or you know, not sleep.”

“OK baby.” Hotch nodded and didn’t push it.

He kissed Emily, got up from the chair, and went into their bedroom. He would give her some time to get her mind right and come to him. Everyone thought Emily was the queen of compartmentalization. In an effort to keep too many things to herself, she let them believe that. The truth was there were a lot of things inside of her that nearly boiled to the surface everyday.

Hotch encouraged Emily to share with him and he did his best to respond in kind. Sometimes they were too Hotch and Prentiss for their own good. After almost a year and a half of marriage and four sometimes rocky years together, they were getting better at a lot of things. Old habits died hard but they weren't afraid to call each other on the tough stuff.

Emily sighed, lighting a clove as she looked out on a clear DC night. She inhaled deeply and smelled home. She was back, trying hard to return to who she once was. This case had to bring it all up again. How long was she going to have to be Emily Prentiss, the woman who returned from the dead?

She hadn't had to mention flat lining in the ambulance but when Emily opened her mouth that’s what came out. This case hit close to home…it wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last. But she’d made it home at a decent hour, got to spend time with her daughter, and would sleep all night with her husband. Dying, almost or otherwise, needed to be the last thing on her mind.

Emily was worried about Dave as well. What he told her in California was disturbing. She wasn’t sure if he shared it with anyone else so she wouldn’t bring it up to Aaron. That didn’t mean she would be able to forget it anytime soon.

There was too much white noise between her ears. Emily needed to drown it out with something good. So she took many deep breaths while enjoying her last clove of the night. A few times she looked into her bedroom and saw Hotch preparing for bed.

“Let’s watch a movie.” She said, walking in and closing the French doors.

“What?” He looked at her.

“Remember how I wanted you to make me smile earlier? Well now I want to laugh. I want to prop up the pillows, cuddle, and laugh until tears come out of my eyes.”

“That sounds like Billy Wilder or Neil Simon.” Hotch replied. “Should it be _Barefoot in the Park_ or _The Apartment_?”

“Ooh, _The Apartment_.” Emily smiled.

“You prop the pillows; I’ll set up the movie.”

Emily went to the bed and gathered up the six pillows that they usually put in the chair at night to sleep. It was going to be perfectly cozy to just enjoy an early evening in. They weren't going to get that eight hours of sleep but what else was new. At least they'd spend the time together, laughing, in love, and not pouring over crime scenes or profiling Unsubs.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah baby?” he turned away from the DVD player just in time to see her lifting the sweatshirt over her head and slipping out of the pajama pants. He was definitely going to have to remind himself a lot to concentrate on the movie and not the sexy woman in front of him.

“I love you.” she went over and threw her arms around him.

Hotch smiled as they held onto each other. He could always exhale when Emily was in his arms. They were together again; would never be apart if he had anything to say about it.

“I love you too.” he kissed her lips. “I love you so much.”

Smiling, she went back over to the bed they shared and climbed under the blankets. He put the DVD in, turning to look at his wife. Damn, he was a lucky man. He wasn’t sure he deserved this but it was his. Hotch would do everything in his power to keep his family happy and intact.

What made his wife happy tonight was Billy Wilder. He got into bed too, wrapping his arms around her. Emily relaxed her body on his and he kissed her temple. Nothing was perfect but this little moment in time was just what she wanted. She wanted Aaron Hotchner, Billy Wilder films, and a night in.

Tomorrow was tomorrow but tonight was a happy ending. It might not be the same for everyone Emily cared about. While she hated the idea of pushing that out of her mind, she did it just the same. Sometimes you had to be selfish or you would crumble. She had already made it through so much; she would make it through this part as well.

***


End file.
